Swimming belt



June 26, 1956 J, MANN 2,751,611

SWIMMING BELT Filed Allg. 2:5, 1954 Ezignl. 3

I l Il! I INVENTOR. f/f//Q Z /70/7/7 /ml @mw United States Patent O SWlMlvIING BELT Julia I. Mann, Santa Rosa, Calif.

Application August 23, 1954, Serial No. 451,489

1 Claim. (Cl. 9-17) My present invention relates to belts and more particularly to swimming belts.

The principal object of my invention is to produce an improved swimming belt for children and adults who are exposed to possible drowning accidents.

Another object is to provide a safety belt of light construction and non-sinkable character which can be strapped around the body up under the arms of a swimmer which will keep him or her afloat when in the water, and

Other objects comprising the construction will be more apparent as the description of the same progresses.

in the drawings illustrating the preferred embodiment of the invention:

Fig. l is a plan side view of the belt, portions of the securing straps are broken off;

Fig. 2 is an edge View of the belt shown in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged edge view of one of the interior units of the belt;

Fig. 4 is a top view of one of the interior units, one corner being turned up to show the interior buoyant packing material, and

Fig. 5 is a greatly exaggerated fragmentary partial cross-section and elevation taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. l.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, indicates one of the interior units of the belt, a plurality of such units being arranged side-by-side in a tubular outer fabric covering l1. These units are composed of two outer ilexible plastic covers 12, the edges 13 of which are sealed Patented June 26, 1956 together in a water-tight manner. The interior pocket formed from sealing the edges together is iilled with a water buoyant material such as Kapok or any other suitable material. The units 10 are arranged in a row having their opposite edges overlapping each other. The outer covering material 11 is stitched, as at 14 through the overlapping sealed edges 13, as shown in Fig. 5. In a similar manner the outer edges of the outer covering material 11 are stitched longitudinally securing the other sides of the sealed edges iirrnly in place in the covering 11. Straps 15 are attached to the ends of the belt and if preferred buckles (not shown) may be provided to secure the straps.

It will thus be seen that I have provided a very light and water-tight swimming belt for either children or adults and while i may change the shape and proportions to suit conditions, yet it is to be understood that I may make use of various materials and substitute patentable equivalent structure within wide limits within the spirit of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim as new is:

An improved swimming belt comprising, a plurality of sealed plastic water-tight containers, said containers being filled with a buoyant material and formed from two sheets of plastic material having wide sealed i'langelike edges on four sides of said containers, adjacent edges of said containers overlapping each other, a fabric cover located over said containers, said containers and cover being stitched together along the four sides of said belt, and transversely across said belt through the said overlapping ange-like edges of said containers, and means for tieing the ends of said belt together when worn on the body of a person.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,044,652 Hartivig Nov. l9, i912 1,788,480 Bond et al ian. 13, i931 1,985,568 Hall Dec. 25, 1934 2,374,506 Schorovsky Apr. 24, 1945 2,393,285 Brown Ian. 22, 1946 2,405,484 Baillie Aug. 6, 1946 

